Melid
Melid · Milid · Meliddu · Arslantepe-Melid
Chalcolithic–Iron Age (4200–700 BCE), Melid proper c.1100–700 BCE·Late Chalcolithic palace → Neo-Hittite Luwian kingdom of Kammanu/Melid·🇹🇷 Malatya Province, Upper Euphrates, Turkey
About
About Melid
Neo-Hittite capital Melid (Iron Age name of Arslantepe) on the Malatya plain, Upper Euphrates. While the tell proper is Arslantepe (UNESCO 1622), Melid denotes the 1st-millennium BCE city that shifted 7 km NE to Battalgazi (Old Malatya) after 705 BCE Sargonid sack. 4th-mill. BCE palace on the Arslantepe mound (mudbrick with wall paintings, sealings, swords) documents early state formation; Iron Age Melid survives as Lion Gate, walls and Luwian inscriptions reused in Battalgazi. Excavated 1932– by Delaporte, Palmieri, Frangipane.
Why it mattersEarliest palace with central storage and bureaucracy; key for Hittite-Neo-Hittite continuity and UNESCO succession.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why twin peaks palace destroyed c.3000 BCE?
- 02Battalgazi Iron Age layout under medieval walls?
Theories
- 01Centralised redistribution collapse model (Frangipane)
- 02Melid as Kammanu federacy
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Palace c.3350 BCE; Iron Age walls c.1100 BCE
- Period
- Chalcolithic–Iron Age (4200–700 BCE), Melid proper c.1100–700 BCE
- Culture
- Late Chalcolithic palace → Neo-Hittite Luwian kingdom of Kammanu/Melid
- Builders
- Kammanu Luwian dynasty (Pugmatama, Gunzinanu)
- Purpose
- Upper Euphrates kingdom capital, Euphrates trade and Malatya plain control
- Abandoned
- 712 BCE after Assyrian capture
- Rediscovered
- 1894 Puchstein; 1932 Delaporte
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.3350 BCE
Arslantepe Period VIA palace built with sealings
c.1100 BCE
Neo-Hittite Melid founded on Arslantepe summit
c.800 BCE
Lion Gate and walls monumentalised
712 BCE
Sacked by Sargon II, city shifts to Battalgazi
On the ground
Structures & features
38.3819° N · 38.3611° E · 918 m · 3 mapped features
Melid — Arslantepe Palace quarter
palace4th-mill. palace with storerooms, sealings, wall paintings
38.3820° N · 38.3610° EMelid — Iron Age Lion Gate
gateNeo-Hittite basalt lion orthostat gate, 9th–8th c. BCE
38.3815° N · 38.3615° EMelid — Battalgazi (Old Malatya) citadel
citadelIron Age successor town, 7 km NE, medieval walls over Neo-Hittite levels
38.4250° N · 38.3500° E